George R.R. Martin: Winds of Winter Isn't Coming in 2015

Grim tidings from GRRM.

And so we keep waiting. On the very day that HBO released its trailer for season five of Game of Thrones into theaters, George R.R. Martin's publisher, HarperCollins, confirmed that the author has no plans to release the newest installment of his A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter, during 2015. Instead, Martin fans will have to settle for three previously released Westeros novellas in a new collection entitled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which serves as a prequel to the book series that HBO helped make a cultural phenomenon.

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As for The Winds of Winter, editor Jane Johnson with HarperCollins told The Guardian that she has "no information on likely delivery."

"These are increasingly complex books and require immense amounts of concentration to write.," Johnson said. "Fans really ought to appreciate that the length of these monsters is equivalent to two or three novels by other writers."

Fans can attempt to console themselves by watching the final two episodes of season four of GoT and the first extended trailer for the upcoming fifth season in select IMAX theaters starting today. Or they can try to find some milk of the poppy to tide to numb their pain until Martin's long-awaited next installment finally arrives.